Abstract:

Willingness to sacrifice one's own son for a sacred or noble cause is an established tradition
in Semitic value systems. The most celebrated case within the sacred context is that of
Patriarch Abraham and his son (Ismael/Isaac), while the example in the non-sacred context
is that of the Arab chieftain al-Samaw'al "the Jew" and his son. In the latter case, the act of
"sacrifice" is euphemistic. In both contexts, the consequences of actions by both patriarchs
have constituted "shared" and far-reaching traditions among Jews, Christians, and Moslems. 2
This study treats the information related to al-Samaw'al in Arab sources as cultural
phenomena rather than verified historical facts. The "Discussant" assigned by the symposium
commented on this paper with one sentence: it treats al-Samaw'al as "the other" (that is: he
is not a member of the society as a whole). However, in this regard we should remember that
in the tribal Arab society, any person who did not belong to one's own blood-group (i.e.,
tribe) was "the other". It is in this sense that Samaw'al was viewed--in the same manner as
Antar, Imru' al-Qays, al-'A¿shâ, etc.--and esteemed as noble "Arab" in spite of being "the
other". The crux of discussion in the present paper, and the reason for holding this
symposium is to explore what each of the three religions shares with "the other". If the
quality of the "otherness" is negated by exclusion, then the essence of the foundation of this
symposium is negated as well.